A search for star-forming objects belonging to tidal tails has been carried out in a sample of deep Hα images of 16 compact groups of galaxies. A total of 36 objects with Hα luminosities greater than 1038 ergs s-1 has been detected in five groups. The fraction of the total Hα luminosity of their respective parent galaxies shown by the tidal objects is always below 5% except for the tidal features of Hickson compact group 95, whose Hα luminosity amounts to 65% of the total luminosity. Out of these 36 objects, nine star-forming tidal dwarf galaxy candidates finally have been identified on the basis of their projected distances to the nuclei of the parent galaxies and their total Hα luminosities. Overall, the observed properties of the candidates resemble those previously reported for the so-called tidal dwarf galaxies.